i recently tore my ankle ligaments at chosspile from falling from a short (3 - 4m) vertical scramble - the walkout was hell! before you all start yawning away here's the request: can any of you tell about some horrific climbing injuries you had and how they came about?

i was decidedly stupid, overly confident and relied on the holding power of a tuft of grass. now Mok is scratching out weeks on his wall (think jail cell in old movie) before his next climb.

and please don't tell us about the time you bumped your big toe - at least some tearing, breaking, dislocating or profuse bleeding or any other 16VL rating. might help to get rid of that \"boring\" tag we're stuck with.

Anyway, what a lame topic dude, if you wanna go read climbing horror tales then get some books on K2

and please don't tell us about the time you bumped your big toe - at least some tearing, breaking, dislocating or profuse bleeding or any other 16VL rating. might help to get rid of that \"boring\" tag we're stuck with.

It's not the 'harcore' ankle injuries that make our sport exciting. It's the amazing places that people go and the feats of human physical and mental strength that make this sport unique and amazing.

How boring bru, let's all sit around and talk about how a friend's back got broken, or face smashed up, yeah 'HARDCORE'.

mokganjetsi, hope you get well soon and next time I'm sure you'll be twice as careful out there. People die very quickly.

A while back I was bouldering the start of a route way above my grade-limit, and popped off the huge first move. Landing almost instantly, I felt my ankle give in, buckle with some nasty sounds and nauseating pain. Feeling very embarassed, and not wanting my mates to know what had just happened, I bit the bullet and finished a couple more easy routes before heading home....

Next day I booked an x-ray and physio session - turns out I'd got some ligament, tendon and nerve damage, in my severly swollen right ankle...and had to find myself a walking stick.

Now's when it get's somewhat more embarrasing....

A week later, looking for sympathy or admiration (probably both), I headed off the the gym, ankle strapped, and one shoe packed in the bag. I shoe'd my left foot up, and hopped on the bouldering wall, and proceeded to traverse and muck about, feeling quite the chuffed hero. A few minutes into my one-footed session, I hit the top of a problem, hopped off, and tried to take all my weight on my good foot.......

Next day I booked an x-ray and physio session - turns out I'd got some ligament, tendon and nerve damage, in my severly swollen left ankle....and had to buy myself some crutches!

Eish!! Now of course any intelligent person would take this as a sign that it was time for a break. But nooooooo, not Jono the Great!!! ....

I'd hobble and swing my way up the walk-in's to places like the Mine, both feet tightly bandaged and ankle-guarded, where I could belay my mates, and campus the low overhung traverses. All was going well for this no-legged, hop-along, campusing belay-monkey.... until after one session, I couldn't lift my right arm above shoulder height. Ended up at a shoulder specialist, pumped full of cortisone, with micro-tears iny rotator cuff.

If ever there was a sign, this was it! My body was obviously telling me to chill the #!!@* out! With one stable limb left I took a year and a half off climbing to recover.

Well now, thanks to Francie Buhmann - physiotherapist extraordinaire, who discovered and sorted out a whole host other problems too, I'm back, a bit stronger, and hopefully wiser!

he guest dude i appreciate your concern. should probably have positioned my request a bit differently...........

i do think however some gory stories might help us to appreciate the dangers and not get too confident / down right shabby with safety issues. my experience helped me to appreciate that the most dangerous place to be is not on dodgy rock but being overly confident and thinking that the safety rules does not apply to you anymore. i was lucky enough to fall on a ledge falling out on a 15m tumble - a slight bounce and I would have been an 18V case - a healthy fear of gravity and thankfulness towards God now in my soul. i suppose the best way to enjoy the awesome experience of climbing is \"safely\".......

i have read a lot about K2, 1996 on Everest etc etc. puts things into perspective yeah.

We've all heard of rumours of the effect, good and bad, climbing has on your bones, especially on your fingers that is. Arthritis etc.

I've gone to the link \"crimping is safe\" and a few others, but my question is thus, in your experience , climbers that have been doing this for a few years. Have you had any ill effects, apart from a few bruised fingers, due to climbing ?